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WHO IS THE PROPHETIC BEAST?
Major world shaking events are foretold in symbolic
language about a mysterious world-dominating beast described
in Revelation 13 and 17. Is the beast a mysterious superman
world dictator yet to appear? Just who or what is the
prophetic Beast spoken of in the book of Revelation? You
need to know. For it is those of this present generation who
will be worshiping this beast or his image, or will have
received his mark, that will suffer the unspeakable torture
of God's seven last plagues described in Revelation 15 and
16. Ignorance will not excuse you. "My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge," says God in Hosea 4:6. Listen to the
warning given in Revelation 14:9, 10: "If any man worship the
beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or
in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of
God , which is poured out full strength into the cup of His
indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the
Lamb."
The prophecies we have discussed in this book are real.
They are imminent. Every sign tells us these things will
happen very soon. The world will soon be plunged into the
most frantic, frenzied state of anguish ever known. Those
who will suffer the wrath of God in the terrible Day of the
Lord, are those who worship the beast, or his image, or have
his mark.
It is futile to try to imagine what the mark of the
beast may be. Too many are trying to speculate in their
imaginations. But God says, "My thoughts are not your
thoughts" (Isa. 55:8). We can't work this out in our minds.
There is only one way to learn the truth. That is to study
carefully all the testimony of all the scriptures that bear
on this question. Space does not permit us to quote the full
text of all the applicable scriptures so be sure and read
these texts in your Bible. The prophecies and symbols of
Daniel and Revelation covered here have been the subject of
whole books. We only have enough space and time to hit the
high points.
Description of the Beast
The beast, the image of the beast and the mark of the
beast are all described primarily in the 13th chapter of
Revelation. John saw a beast like a leopard, with the feet
of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. This beast had seven
heads and ten horns. Now if the beast were some superman, or
antichrist, soon to appear as a world dictator, he would be a
peculair-looking individual. But, these are all symbols.
The very word beast is a symbol. These symbols stand for real
literal things. But man cannot interpret these biblical
symbols for himself. If we want the truth, we must be guided
soley by the Bible. The point we want to stress is that the
Bible interprets its own symbols. The Bible itself tells us
what they represent.
Daniel 7
We find these same symbols described in the 7th chapter
of Daniel. Here again are the beasts, the seven heads and
the ten horns. Daniel sees four beasts: a lion, a bear, a
leopard with four heads, and a dreadful and terrible fourth
beast with ten horns. Now the interpretation of these things
starts with verse 16. "These great beasts, which are four,
are four kings which shall arise out of the earth," is the
interpretation in verse 17. And the word king is synonymous
with kingdom. In verse 23 we read, "The fourth beast shall
be the fourth kingdom upon the earth."
Now what do the "horns" represent? Notice verse 24:
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that
shall arise." Notice the ten horns are ten succeeding
kingdoms growing out of the fourth kingdom, which was to rule
the world. The ten succeeding kingdoms come out of a
kingdom, not out of a man. This alone makes it plain that the
beast is not some mysterious personal superman yet to come.
Also the beast is not a church, for no ten kingdoms ever did,
or will, come out of a church.
Daniel 2
Identification of the Kingdoms
These same four world-ruling kingdoms are described in
the 2nd chapter of Daniel. King Nebuchadnessar had a dream,
the meaning of which God revealed to Daniel. The dream is
described in Daniel 2:31-35. The king saw a great image.
Its head was of gold, its brat and arms of siver, its belly
and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet and toes
were part iron and part clay. Finally a stone, cut out
without men's hands, smote the image upon his feet and toes.
It was broken in pieces and was blown away like chaff. Then
the stone that smashed it became a great mountain and filled
the whole earth.
"This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation
of it before the king...You are this head of gold. But after
you shall rise another kingdom inferior to yours; then
another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all
the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as
iron...and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in
pieces and crush all the others" (Daniel 2:36-40).
The interpretation of the stone smashing the image at
its toes is found in verse 44: "And in the days of these
kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall
never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." The stone is Christ
and the kingdom is the world-ruling Kingdom of God.
And so we see that here are four world ruling gentile
kingdoms. The first was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, the
Babylonian Empire (625-539 B.C.). The second kingdom was the
Medo-Persian Empire (558-330 B.C.). The third kingdom was
the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great. Alexander
lived only a short year after his conquest and his four
generals divided his vast empire into four regions (330-31
B.C.). So these were the four heads of the third beast of
Daniel 7. And the fourth kingdom absorbed all the others and
was the Great Roman Empire (31 B.C. to 476 A.D.). Out of
this fourth kingdom grows ten succeeding governments. These
carry us to the time of the Second Coming of Christ, and the
setting up of the Kingdom of God to fill the whole earth and
last forever.
The Fourth Beast
The fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, had absorbed all
the others, occupied all their territory, and was greater and
stronger than all of them. It had all the royal splendor of
Babylon, thus having the head of the lion. It had the
powerful army of the Persian Empire, symbolized by the legs
of the bear. It was the greatest war-making machine the
world had ever seen, and it also possed the swiftness,
cunning, and cruelty symbolized by the leopard (Greece). And
thus, this fourth beast was unlike any wild beast of the
earth. It was stronger, greater, and more terrible than any
other.
And so John, in Revelation 13, sees, not four beasts,
but one beast. So this beast is like a leopard with the feet
of a bear and the mouth of a lion. Daniel's fourth beast,
the Roman Empire, had absorbed the three beasts before it.
Thus it included all seven heads. Therefore in Revelation 13
it is seen as one beast with the characteristics of the three
it absorbed. And John's beast also has seven heads.
Daniel's fourth beast had ten horns and John's beast also has
ten horns.
And if we are willing to be guided solely by the Bible
description of this beast and let the Bible interpret the
symbols used to describe it, we come to the conclusion that
the beast of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire of 31 B.C. to
476 A.D. Of course, many man-imagined or interpreted
theories interpret this beat as some mysterious individual
superman yet to come. But these theories will not stand the
test of applying Bible interpretation to all the symbols that
describe this beast. Nebucahadnezzar's image, by the two
legs, describes the two divisions of the Roman Empire after
A.D. 330. John also pictures this beast as a powerful
government having a great army. For they worshiped the beast
saying, "Who is able to make war with him?" (Rev. 13:4).
Symbolism of the 10 Horns
Let us now explain the symbolism of the 10 horns of the
fourth beast of Daniel 7 and the beast of Revelation 13. The
ten horns symbolize the ten stages of government continuing
out of the Roman Empire after its fall in 476 A.D. These
kingdoms continue from 476 A.D. until the time when the
Stone, Christ and His Kingdom, smashes the image on its toes
and the kingdom is given to the saints. There have been 9
successive kingdoms ruling the territory of the Roman Empire
from 476 to this present day.
The Deadly Wound
Now let us return to our discussion of the beast in
Revelation 13:
"And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally
wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world
marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the
dragon [devil] who gave authority to the beast; and they
worshiped the beast , saying, `Who is like the beast? Who is
able to make war with him?' And he was given a mouth
speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given
authority to continue for forty two months " (Rev. 13:3-5).
The beast described in Revelation 13 included 7 heads,
but the only head existing at the time John saw this beast
was that of the fourth best of Daniel, containing the seventh
head, and also the ten horns. So the specific "one of its
heads" that was wounded to death was the seventh head of the
Roman Empire. The deadly wound then, was the one
administered to the Roman Empire, when in its last decaying
stages, the barbarians overran it, ending its government in
476 A.D.
Notice they "worshiped the beast" saying "Who is able to
make war with him?" The Roman Empire was the greatest war
making power the world had ever known. The beast killed by
the sword (v. 10). Some do not know that the people
worshiped the Roman Empire and its emperors. History is full
of accounts of the worship of the Roman emperors, for
paganism was a state religion. They worshiped the emperor
because he stood for the majesty and glory of the dominion
and all were obliged to join in the official sacrifices to
the emperor as a god. ( Medieval and Modern Times p.7).
The text says one of his heads was wounded to death
(seventh) and that "deadly wound was healed." The ten horns
now reign, one by one. The first three horns are the Vandals
(429-523), the Heruli (476-493), and the Ostrogoths (493-554
A.D.), respectively. These three kingdoms filled the period
know in history as the transition age. That is a transition
between the wound and the healing.
Now Daniel saw a "little horn" coming up among thes ten,
before whome these first three horns were "plucked up by the
roots" (Dan. 7:8). That leaves 7 horns to come. And of the
little horn, Daniel 7 says "his look was more stout than his
fellows" (verse 20). The interpretation of this is that the
papacy dominated completely all the horns to follow.
The Deadly Wound Healed
It was the fourth kingdom, symbolized by the fourth
horn, which really healed the deadly wound and restored the
empire. In 554 A.D., Justinian, Emperor of the East, from
Constantinople, set up his government at Ravenna, Italy, and
brought about what is known in history as the "Imperial
Restoration" of the Empire.
In Revelation 13:5, power was given to this beast, once
healed, to "continue forty and two months." In the
prophecies pertaining to Israel's punishment, each day
represents a year in the actual fulfillment (Ezek. 4:4-6,
Num. 14:34). Thus, the healed beast is to continue in power
1260 years. Following the healing, in 554, came the Frankish
Kingdom (French), the Holy Roman Empire (German), the
Hapsburg Dynasty (Austrian), and finally Napoleon's Kingdom
(French). But when Napoleon was crushed in 1814, the healed
beast continued no longer. So closed a government that dated
from Augustus Caesar. It went into the Abyss.
And from 554 to 1814, the duration of the "healed
beast," was exactly 1260 years. At this point, eight of the
horns of Daniel 7 have appeared and gone. The beast itself
went into the non-existent condition symbolized in Revelation
17:8 as the "bottomless pit." But by the year 1870,
Garibaldi had united the many little divisions of Italy into
one nation, and this kingdom began the ninth horn, which
culminated in the Fascist rule of Mussolini.
The Heads the Woman Rode
The 17th chapter of Revelation describes a woman riding
a similar beast with seven heads and ten horns. Please note
that the woman mentioned in this chapter never rode on any
part of this beast of Revelation 13 except its last seven
horns. She is the "little horn" of Daniel 7, whose "look was
more stout than his fellows," and who caused the first three
to be plucked up by the roots. Note that in the 17th chapter
of Revelation the woman rode on all seven of the heads of the
beast pictured there. Yet she rode none of the heads but
only the last seven of the horns of the 13th chapter beast.
It follows that the seven horns of the "healed beast" of the
13th chapter form the seven heads of the beast of the 17th
chapter.
Notice, at the time John saw the beast, five are fallen,
one is, and one is yet to come (Rev. 17:10). The five that
are fallen are the five during the 1260 years in which power
was given, by religious authority, for the healed beast to
continue. The "one that is," is the kingdom that extended
from Garibaldi tothe downfall of Mussolini. It was not in
any sense the power wielding old Roman Empire, so during the
stage of this ninth horn (Rev.13) or 6th head (Rev. 17) John
speaks of it as "the beast that was, and is not," and shall
arise once more out to the bottomless pit. (Rev. 17:11).
The 7th head with its ten horns, in the 17th chapter,
will be the revival of the beast, the Roman Empire, "out of
the bottomless pit" by a federation of 10 European nations
centered within the bounds of the old Roman Empire (Rev.
17:12-18). This is actually beginning today. The entire
beast of Revelation 17 is a part of the seven heads of
Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 because it comprises the last
seven horns. Yet this revived Roman Empire is the "eighth"
system, differing from the seven before it (Rev. 17:11).
The Beast is Not the Woman
In the 17th chapter of Revelation we find a beast, and a
great, wealthy, but fallen woman who was riding the beast.
The Bible describes the symbol "woman" to mean a church. See
II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7; and Eph. 5:22-27). On the other
hand, a beast if a symbol of a kingdom or empire. The beast
of Revelation 13 is not the woman who rode the beast. The
beast is the government and the woman is a church. The beast
of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire.
Ministers of Satan Deceive the World
The devil has his own government on earth. He gave it
his power, and his seat, and great authority. Satan also has
organized religion as his instrument in deceiving the world.
In II Corinthians 11:14, we find Satan is transformed into an
"angel of light." According to Revelation 12:9 and 20:3, he
has deceived the whole world. How has Satan been able to
deceive the world and take over organized religion? Paul
tells us in II Corinthians 11:13-15. Satan has his ministers
who pretend to be the ministers of righteousness, but are
actually false apostles, deceitful workers, calling
themselves the ministers of Christ. Therefore they claim to
be Christian ministers. They are the many, not the few,
because all prophecies say it is the many, not the few, who
have been deceived. Satan has been deceiving the world for
six thousand years.
The Two Horned Beast
Now turn to verse 11 in the 13th chapter of Revelation.
"Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he
had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon." Who
or what is this beast?
Remember a beast is the symbol for a kingdom. So this
beast with two horns is the prophecy of another kingdom.
This two horned beast appeared as a lamb. But actually it
spoke as a dragon, its true characteristic. The word "lamb"
in the Bible symbolizes Christ (I John 1:29; Rev. 17:4). And
the word "dragon" is a symbol of the devil (Rev. 12:9, 20:2).
So here is some kingdom or government appearing as that of
Christ, or the Kingdom of God.
Christ's Kingdom Not Yet
Christ did not set up a kingdom at His first appearing
on earth. After his resurrection the disciples asked Him if
He would at that time restore the kingdom (Acts 1:6), but he
did not. The Church is not the Kingdom. Because some
thought it was, Jesus spoke the parable of Luke 19:11-27 to
show that He first must ascend to His Father's throne in
heaven to receive the royal power to become King of kings, to
set up the world-ruling Kingdom of God. But Satan is a
deceiver, and he has deceived the world into supposing his
(Satan's) system of churches is the Kingdom of God.
Pretending to be The Kingdom of God
Now notice carefully Revelation 13:12: "And he exercises
all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and
causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." The first beast
is the Roman Empire. Here is another government or kingdom
pretending to be the Kingdom of God, taking, exercising,
using, employing, all the power of the first beast, the Roman
Empire. Notice the second beast exercises all this power of
the first beast after the "deadly wound was healed." It was
healed when Justinian brought about the restortation of the
Empire in 554 A.D. Consequently, this religious government
exercised power after 554 A.D. when the Roman Empire was
restored.
So here we have pictured a government, a religious
government, appearing as Christ's government, masquerading as
the Kingdom of God, actually ruling the civil Roman Emprire
after 554. The teaching in that day of the Roman Empire, was
that the Second Coming of Christ is fulfilled in the person
of the leaders of the church. In almost any encylopedia
under "Millennium" you will read how the "Holy Roman Empire"
was called the "Kingdom of God upon earth." They claimed the
Millennium had arrived! For the entire 1260 years, the
emperors acknowledged the supreme power of religion. The
church was organized as a government, as a two-fold
government, symbolized by its two horns or kingdoms. It
embodied church government, and it also was a state or civil
government, always occupying a certain amount of territory
over which it alone ruled, in addition to ruling over the
vast civil kingdom called the Holy Roman Empire. Now, this
second beast was to yield power over all the earth.
All Nations Deceived
Notice Revelation 13:13-14: "He performs great signs, so
that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in
the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the
earth by those sign which he was granted to do in the sight
of the beast." So notice these points: The beast performs
great miracles. He perfomed them in the sight of the Holy
Roman Empire, the first beast. With them he deceived all
those who dwell on the earth.
Where else do we find these same facts in Biblical
prophecy? First, note Revelation 17. Here is pictured a
woman. This woman is a fallen woman, and apostate church,
pictured as ruling over many nations (Rev. 17:1, 15). In
verse 3, this false church is pictured as sitting on a beast
"having seven heads and ten horn." The woman riding the
beast guides and controls the beast. It does her bidding.
Verse 18 says she is "that great city which reigns over the
kings of the earth." Verse 1, 2, and verse 15 make it clear
that "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues," are "drunk
with the wine of her fornication." The inhabitants of the
earth have been deceived by this counterfeit Christianity.
Revelation 18:3 also shows she has deceived all nations.
Next, notice II Thessalonians 2:3-4: "Let no one deceive
you by any means; for the Day will not come unless the
falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the
son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all
that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as
God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
The second coming of Christ will not come until there be a
falling away, and a "man of sin" be revealed. This man will
sit in a temple claiming it to be the temple of God. He
shows himself to be God, deceiving the people into accepting
him as God. God is our Holy Father. This final man, in a
religious office, will claim the same title. This wicked man
is to be destroyed at Christ's coming (verse 8). "This coming
of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with
all power, signs, and lying wonders" (II Thess. 2:9). So
here we see an important religious figure prophesied to
perform miracles and lying wonders, with which he deceives
people everywhere. Satan is behind this man and gives him
the power to do these things. This deceiving religious ruler
will still be active clear to Armageddon and the second
coming of Christ.
Counterfeit Christianity
Now notice the last battle of "the great day of God
Almighty." In Revelation 19:19-20 is pictured the beast "and
with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him,
with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast, and them that worshipped his image." Compare this
beast with the two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-17. Both
perform miracles. Both perform them before or in the sight
of the beast. With these miracles, both the false prophet
and two-horned beast deceive them that have the mark of the
beast or cause them to receive that mark (Rev. 13:16). Then,
this two-horned beast, the false prophet, the man of sin,
and the woman that rode the beast are all picturing a
counterfeit Christianity.
This two-horned beast not only caused people to receive
the mark of the beast (compare Rev. 19:20), but also
perpetrated the forming of an image that caused the martyrdom
of saints. The beast caused "as many as would not worship
the image of the beast to be killed" (Rev. 13:15). This
false church did not kill them but she caused them to be
killed. History shows that the civil govermnent of the Roman
Empire martyred millions who wer declared "anathema from
Christ" or "heretics." Compare this with the woman who rode
the beast in Revelation 17: "I saw the woman, drunk with the
blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus (Rev. 17:6). Certainly, these are one and the same.
The Image of the Beast
Now this ecclesiastical organization, which is a twofold
government, deceived the people by saying they should "make
an image of the beast" (Rev. 13:14). What is this image by
which this church deceived the people? The church made an
image, model, or likeness of the Roman civil government. For
as we have said the beast was a government or kingdom. The
first pope of this church was Leo I (440-460 A.D.). To him
to form of the government of the Roman Empire was the most
marvelous on earth. He applied its principles to the church
and organized the church into a government forming the
papacy. This church government is in fact a model, a
counterpart, an image of the beast which is the Roman Empire
government. This church government is the image of the
beast. This image, man-designed and man-ruled church
government, compelled people to worship the church! And
since the church was organized into a worldly government,
this was worship of the image, false worship, idolatry!
In contrast, Jesus Christ proclaimed the Kingdom, or
government of God, divine government by will of God and by
God's law, not paganized human government by will of man and
man's laws. His Church includes all Spirit-begotten saints
who have are are led by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the only
head of this Church. And Christ said His Kingdom is not of
this world!
Mystery, Babylon the Great
Speaking of this great false church, Revelation 17:5
says, "And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." So this church became a mother
church and daughter churches called "harlots" came out of her
in "protest" calling themselves "Protestant." And all have
worldly, political church government. Together they are
called "BABYLON." They are pagan, teaching pagan doctrines
and customs, cloaked in the name of Christianity. And all
nations are deceived. Yes, they do not realize it though.
Yes, human organized churchianity is the image of the
beast. It is the pagan political counterfeit of God's
government. Today, America, Canada, Britain, Israelitish
nations descended from the ancient so-called lost ten tribes
of Israel, are actually in the ways of this "Babylon."
God's last warning is this: "Come out of her, my people,
lest your share in her sins, and lest you receive her
plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has
remembered her iniquities" (Rev. 18:4-5).
The Mark of the Beast and "666"
What is the mysterious mark and number of the Beast
mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18: "He (the second beast)
causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and
slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their
foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has
the mark or the name of the beast , or the number of his name .
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding, calculate the
number of the beast, for is is the number of a man : His
number is 666."?
The Bible clearly reveals what these things mean. But
to find God's answer we must have before us all of the
scriptures referring to this subject.
The Number 666
The number of the Beast is 666. It is described as the
number of a man (v. 18), and we are told to count it. The
expression "the name of the beast," or "the number of his
name" makes plain that the number 666 is the number of the
name of the kingdom or empire. The expression "it is the
number of a man" shows we must count this number in the name
of a king over the kingdom identified as the beast.
Therefore 666 must be the name of the kingdom as well as the
king who found it or rules it. The origin of the Roman
Empire goes back to the time of king Lateninos who founded
the Latin kingdom four centuries before Romulus, the first
king of Rome. In Greek the letters of the alphabet have
numerical values. In the 2nd century A.D., Irenaeus,
disciple of Polycarp, the apostle John's disciple, explained
that in Greek the word Lateinos , meaning "latin man" adds up
to 666. ( L=30, A=1, T=300, E=5, I=10, N=50, O=70, S=200.)
This, he stated, was the intent of the scripture. Thus, the
number 666 identifies the Latin kingdom or Roman Empire and
its founder king Lateinos.
What is this Mark?
Now, what is the mark of the Beast? Some claim it is
the social security number, others the univeral product code,
others a universal credit card, or a computer code. These
are mere guesses and are wrong. Instead of turning away from
God's own revelation of this mystery, and using human
imagination and fancy to conjure up the many ridiculous
conclusions being foisted upon a deceived public by persons
devoid of understanding, let us see what God says this mark
really is.
Notice what the Bible says about this mark: The mark of
the Beast is received "on their right hand or on their
foreheads" of those subject to him (Rev. 13:16). Without it,
one will be unable to conduct business, to "buy or sell" (v.
17). Everyone wants to be able to buy or sell. The mark is
something that will be very popular. The majority of the
people will be in favor of it and will want it. Note that
the one refusing the mark would not be able to buy, would not
be able to earn a living or a salary. The mark of the beast
then has a direct bearing on your ability to engage in
business, or to hold a job and earn a living.
Whose Mark is It?
Note this well! The "mark" is the mark of the BEAST,
and the "beast" is the ROMAN EMPIRE. Revelation 17 pictures
a great CHURCH guiding and ruling over the Roman Empire. But
the mark is the mark of the Roman Empire, not the Roman
Catholic Church. This great false church "CAUSES all...to
receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads"
(Rev. 13:16). Now here is a deceived church, both herself
deceived by, and therefore used by the devil, and also
deceiving the world. It is the church, not the civil
government who forces this mark on people. It brands on
people the mark of the "beast", that is the mark of the Roman
Empire. So the MARK is that of the Roman Empire, which this
church did cause or shall cause the western world to receive.
One Past Martyrdom, One Future
Now back to verse 15 of Revelation 13 where it states
that the church would "cause as many as would not worship the
image of the beast to be killed." Next notice when the
saints who did not receive the mark were killed. "And when
he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls
of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and
avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:9-
10). This will tell us when the mark of the beast is
enforced.
Here we find pictured the martyrs of the Middle ages.
History tells us that in the Middle Ages more than fifty
million were killed, many for their Bible faith and obedience
to God instead of obediaence to this church government of man
and the devil. They know that God's judgments against this
persecuting, deceiving, false church, as described in
Revelation 18, are to be the seven last plagues, poured out
in the presence of the Lamb, at the Second Coming of Christ.
These dead saints are pictured as crying out to ask how long
before the Second Coming of Christ which will avenge their
martyrdom. Notice what must again happen before the seven
last plagues and the coming of Christ. "Then a white robe
[symbolizing purity] was given to each of them; and it was
said to them that they should rest a little while longer,
until both the number of their fellow servants and their
breathren, who would be killed as they were , was completed"
(Rev. 6:11). Christ will not come to take vengence on this
great false church until another great martyrdom has taken
place.
This coming great martyrdom is the Great Tribulation.
This tribulation is not the wrath of God. It is the wrath of
Satan (Rev. 12:12), inflicted at the command of Satan's
church by the coming revival of the Roman Empire, against the
true people of God. Notice Revelation 17:6, "And I saw the
woman [false church] drunken with the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Now compare
with Revelation 20:4, "And I saw thrones, and they that sat
on them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for
the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had
not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had
received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;
and the lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand year."
The Mark of Beast is Here Now
Now we see why these many millions were, and shall still
be martyred! It was because they refused to receive this
mark of the beast and refused to join in this worship of
church and the Empire. They obeyed God rather than men. And
at Christ's coming to rule the world as King of kings, they
shall be priests and kings under Him and rule the world!
Do you see what this plainly reveals? Those martyrs,
over a thousand years ago, were killed because they would not
worship the church, conform to its idolatry and pagan beliefs
and customs, or worship the so-called "Holy Roman Empire" and
because they refused to receive the mark of the beast. This
means the mark of the beast is something that was forced on
people, on pain of being killed, more than a thousand years
ago ! The mark of the beast was in existence and enforcement
over a thousand years ago. And the dread mark is once again
to be enforced just before the second coming of Christ.
Those who have the mark will suffer the seven last plagues of
God. And those who refuse it are those to be martyred in the
coming Great Tribulation. The mark is still the brand of
traditional Christianity today, and is once again to be
enforced.
Those With Mark To Suffer God's Wrath
You must soon chose whom you will obey, this coming
revival of the Roman Empire resurrected by a union of 10
nations in Europe, ruled by traditional Christianity, or
whether you will obey God. Now we can begin to see that the
mark of the beast involves a point of obedience, whether you
will obey God, or reject the commandment of God and obey
man's rule.
Those who have this mark of the Beast in their hands or
foreheads will suffer the corrective plagues of God's
judgement (Rev. 14:9-10; 15:1, 6; 16:1-2). Notice Revelation
14, verses 9 and 10: "...If anyone worships the beast and his
image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand
he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God
[seven last plagues]...He shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb [Christ]." If you do have the mark of
the beast you will receive the seven last plagues and they
will be terrible beyond description!
God's Sign or Mark
These individuals are contrasted with the saints who
"keep the commandments of God" (Rev. 14:12). Those who have
the mark will suffer divine plagues; those who keep the
commandments will not. The mark is symbolic of forced
allegience. The mark of the beast involves a rejection of
the commandments of God, or of one of them, for if we break
one we are guilty of all (James 2:10). The Sabbath
commandment is considered a sign of God's people. Notice
Exodus 31:13, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a
sign between me and you throughout your generations..." The
keeping of God's sabbaths is the sign identifying God's
people. This sign is also received symbolically in one's
hand and forehead. (Exod 13:9, Deut. 6:8, 11:18).
Satan's Counterfeit Sign
The mark of the Beast is a counterfeit of the sign
between God and his people, specifically the observance of
man-made holidays in place of those Sabbaths that God
originally ordained! Those who do not fall in line and join
in religious conformity, including in its participation in
its false religious days, will not be able to hold a job or
earn a living. Those who refuse to receive this mark will
suffer martyrdom.
We can see in Revelation 12:17 that it is those "which
keep the commandments of God" that the devil will persecute
and martyr through his false church and his reborn Empire.
The mark plainly means the rejecting and breaking of God's
commandments. Now Satan is a clever deceiver. Naturally he
would select the one commandment of God which he can
counterfeit with a substitute, one in which by human reason
alone no man could see where it would make any difference!
This is the fourth commandment, which says: "Remember the
sabbath day to keep it holy..."
Sunday did not originate with the Church of God, but
with the pagan religion of the Roman Empire. It is the day
on which the ancient pagans assembled at sunrise, faced the
east, as they do Easter Sunday morning today, and worshiped
the rising sun. It was Constantine, and emperor of the Roman
Empire, not a pope, who made sunday the official "christian
day of rest." But it was enforced, people were caused to
accept it universally, by the church! And millions were
martyred by this church for obeying God's sabbath. In Daniel
7:25 we read the prophecy of this beast and the little horn
(the church) rising up, "which shall intend to change times
and law". That is change God's law and times. The time for
the God's sabbath days.
Mark in the Right Hand and in Forehead
The Roman church caused people to receive the mark of
pagan Rome, the Sunday observed by the pagan Roman Empire,
and the penalty for disobedience was death! Fifty million or
more were put to death. The Sabbath commandment is the only
commandment the world will not accept in its mind (forehead)
and obey (by work, or rest, with the hand). It is the only
commandment that can distinguish between those who have the
mark of the beast or the sign of God. Now the book of
Revelation is written mostly in symbols. The right hand
symbolizes work or labor and the forehead, the intellect or
mind. It has to do with what we believe, in the mind, and
whether we obey, with the hand.
The Sabbath is God's sign or mark, standing more than
any commandment, for obedience. Sunday observence,
Christmas, New Years, Easter, etc, is the mark of the beast!
Today all nations are deceived by this paganism masquerading
under the name "Christianity." If you are branded by this
mark of the beast, you shall be tortured by God's plagues
without mercy. But if you obey God, keeping his Sabbath and
his commandments, if you are watching these events take place
and praying, "you may be counted worthy to escape all these
things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of
Man" (Luke 21:36). God says to those in Babylon, "Come out
of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you
receive of her plagues (Rev. 18:4). May God help you to heed
this message before its too late.
